A Halloween to Remember
by Zingzang14
Summary: Eleven-year-old Michael is forced to go trick-or-treating with his older brother for the third year in a row. Every year his brother has something new planned. Please read and review. Formerly Origin of Michael.


_A/N: I was inspired today to finish the rewrite. Once again this isn't exactly Goosebumps but I still wanted to post it._

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October 31st, 1992

Halloween, a time of terrifying spooks and chilling stories. Most of us had gone trick-or-treating as kids. Dressing up in costumes and going door to door getting as much candy as possible before midnight. Yes, most of us enjoy the holiday but, there are those who don't feel the same. One of these people is an eleven-year-old boy named Michael Atkins. Now, this isn't to say he hated the holiday. Michael enjoyed dressing up each year and trick-or-treating. No, what he hated was every year around this time his sixteen year-old brother Luke would find new ways to scare him half to death.

When Michael was nine, Luke thought it would be funny to lose him in the corn maze that the town set up each year. This wasn't a regular maze either. There were people dressed up like maniacs with fake blood dripping from their mouths. Michael ran home crying when he finally escaped and their parents grounded Luke for two weeks.

Last year, Luke had help from a couple friends. They told scary stories to Michael, who agreed to listen to a story. Two of Luke's friends dressed up as murderers and dragged Michael to the basement, locking him in until their parents got home. Luke was once again grounded, this time for a month.

Luke had something else planned for his wimpy brother this year. Near the center of town stood the last original house from when the town was first settled. The two story house was kept standing as a relic of the past. The peeling paint on the outside walls looked like scars across the old wood. The front had a porch built into it that gave way to a closed pale wood door. The few windows that remained unbroken were clouded and impossible to see through. It was clear to anyone the house had been abandoned for years maybe even decades. The two boys stood in front of the house. Michael decided to dress as something simple: a ghost. He wore a pure white robe that draped down to his feet and his face was covered in a thick layer of white make-up with black around his eyes. His brother was something just as original: Frankenstein.

Michael shook as a cool breeze blew across the back of his neck. The house creaked in time with him. "L-Luke? I don't think this is a good idea." he whimpered. "M-Mom and dad say this place is dangerous."

"I'm in charge, you listen to me." Luke stated. "Besides, haven't you ever wondered what it looks like in there?"

"Not really, no."

"Well, too bad. You don't have a say in this."

"Luke, I honestly didn't even want to go trick-or-treating this year. Can't we just go home and say I wasn't feeling good?" Michael pleaded.

"You're not telling them anything you little twerp." Luke said, poking his brother in the chest. "You got me in trouble two years in a row and it is not happening again. Got it?" Michael gulped and nodded quickly. "Good. Now that that is settled help me find a way in."

They walked around the building, looking for an open window to go through that didn't have shards of glass on the edges. All the windows they could reach were either broken or rusted shut. After a few minutes they went back to the front of the house. Luke was starting to lose his patience and Michael could see it.

"Did you try the door?" he asked nervously and walked up to the door.

"Of-course not! This place is old but what idiot doesn't lock their front door?" Luke laughed. There was a loud creak as the handle was turned and another as it opened. Michael smiled at him as if looking for approval. His brother patted his shoulder. "You got lucky."

They stepped inside and closed the door behind them. The floor groaned with each step they took as they looked around the room. The walls were covered in faded wallpaper, some of which was peeling from the wood walls. The center of the room had a dusty red-orange carpet that at one point might have been a vibrant red. To the right in front of them were partially broken stairs that lead to a balcony of the second floor. The balcony looked about ten feet tall and the railing was missing parts which were connected by thick gray webs.

"Cool." Luke said as he took in the house.

"Where do we go first?" Michael asked, hoping they would stick together but his brother scoffed.

"I'm gonna look around down here, you can checkout the second floor for all I care." he stated, leaving his brother in the empty room.

"Well there is no point in standing in one spot." Michael said to himself.

He climbed the staircase, watching out for the broken steps and missing railing. Surprisingly the balcony itself was still steady and didn't show any signs of falling soon. Michael opened the door to the first room and tried the light switch, nothing happened. The power lines to the house must have been cut years ago. The desk near the window was covered in papers and a few pens. A bookshelf sat behind the desk, mostly empty if it weren't for the few books that had fallen over on the shelves. The room might have been a study when the house was built. Now it was covered in dust and cobwebs like the rest of the house.

Michael quickly moved to the next room, a bedroom. A queen-sized bed with a dark oak wood frame and headpiece sat at the far wall. The quilt on the bed had faded but it appeared to have once been green and brown with a checkered pattern. There were two dressers, one on both sides of the bed and a rug similar to the one downstairs. The next room was the same as the the first one and just as dusty.

It was the fourth room that caught his attention. Two twin-sized beds were on opposite sides of the room. Both beds had matching blankets and pillows. Toys were scattered across the floor between the beds. A few toy cars, stuffed animals, dolls, and a small stack of board games by a wall.

The children's room would have creeped him out any other night but this time he smiled. "At least one room in this place isn't creepy." he said aloud to himself and turned to go to the next room.

"Boo!"

He jumped back in surprise then he heard his brother laugh.

"Oh, man Michael, that was priceless!" Luke laughed.

The eleven-year-old clenched his fists. "I am so sick of your bullying Luke! What did I do to you?" he glared up at his brother. "I'm going home."

He was shocked by the outburst. "I will say when we leave, remember?"

"I don't care what you say just let me be." he pushed past him and to the stairs.

"You want to go so badly? Here!"

Luke pushed him and before Michael could react his foot caught in a broken step and he fell down the rest of the stairs and landed with a thud.

"Uh, are you ok?" he asked slowly walking down the stairs. "These stairs should really be replaced." There was no reply and his little brother remained still. "Fine, have it your way we'll go home but you need to get up first." Once again there was no answer, Luke started to get worried.

"Look, Mike, this isn't funny anymore." He checked for a pulse but couldn't find one. "Mike?" he asked, fear building up in his voice. Luke quickly got up and ran for the door.

"Someone, anyone come quick!" he screamed.

October 31st, 1996

Luke Atkins hated Halloween. For him it only served as a reminder of his brothers death. At the time their parents had no clue what to do and they were too heartbroken to let the police charge Luke. Instead, he lived with knowing his brother gone. It took less than two days for the whole town to hear about it. Some felt sorry for the family while others spread rumors about Luke. Since then every Halloween he would visit the house.

His car pulled up in front of the old two-story house and he rolled down the window. It looked just like it had that night.

"I'm so sorry Mike." the twenty-year-old said sadly. As he started the car he turned to get one more look at the building. For a brief moment he saw something in the second-story window.

A little boy.

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 _A/N: I hope that you liked the story. Please leave a comment. Have a great day or night!_


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